


The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come

by Melkur_Mistress



Category: Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Humour, Lighthearted, Masters and plans, Schemes for no real reason, little bit of angst later on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-26
Updated: 2018-10-26
Packaged: 2019-08-07 16:11:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16411718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melkur_Mistress/pseuds/Melkur_Mistress
Summary: Missy's TARDIS is disobedient and takes her to her past. She decides to stay and have some fun.Missy smirked, “I am; the Bringer of Spoilers, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, the Queen of Evil, and the Maker of a Very Amusing Idea...to torment the Doctor of course.”





	The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come

**Author's Note:**

> This story is inspired by a piece of beautiful fan art by Jeff - do check out his art on Twitter: @jsgoddard76

It hadn't been the best decision she had ever made. Upsetting the Doctor so much that he would just leave her stuck on Skaro like he did. In hindsight she could see she went too far, but it was _funny_. It really had been a thrill to watch him facing his pet, encased in a Dalek as she encouraged him to shoot her. It was worth it, it _really_ was.

Worth the alliance she had to form with the Daleks to save herself, despite them giving her a constant headache with all their chatter about exterminating the Doctor, and declarations that they were the superior race in the cosmos. _Honestly_ , anyone who had to repeat their own self importance THAT often, really had some major issues.

She had found an escape pod, stolen some useful components, ditched the Daleks and found a nice quiet spot on a calm, uninhabited planet where she camped out on an unspoiled beach, and spent her days and nights working on a new vortex manipulator. It didn't need to be refined or even to last more than one journey. All it had to do was get her back to her TARDIS.

It took three days of solid work to build it - it wasn't aesthetically the most artistic device she had ever created, but it was disposable, a one time usage that would just get her back home. She activated it, closed her eyes and hoped for the best.

Opening her eyes, she glanced around, the sandy beach now replaced with the cool metal of her console room floor. She tilted her head back and looked up at her high vaulted ceiling. “If I ever hear the word _exterminate_ again, or have to listen to endless chatter about killing the Doctor...unless it's coming from _me_ that is, I swear I will vaporise myself for real.”

She stood up, brushed the sand off her clothes and instantly fell against the console as the room made a sudden jolt.

Holding on tightly, she swore and attempted to regain control as her TARDIS raced off into an unknown direction, materialising with a loud bang that threw her to the ground.

“You couldn't just say _welcome home Missy_ could you? No, you just run off - if this is earth, i’m selling you on some black market somewhere, and stealing myself a more obedient TARDIS.”

She stood up and checked the coordinates, then looked at the monitor.

“ _Earth!_ Why do you hate me?”

She was about to enter new coordinates and leave, when a very familiar yellow car came into view on the screen. She paused and smiled, “oh…. now would you look at that. Maybe I forgive you. I might stay for a while.”

She checked the readouts, gathering information on the time and date, and decided that it was an ideal time to drop by. She selected a hat and umbrella and stepped outside.

* * *

 

Missy sat and watched. It was refreshing to be able to sit in the open, sipping tea at a table with UNIT personnel walking right past her, no clue as to her identity. Observing them all so overtly and casually was interesting. She was pleased when finally, Jo made her way over to the tea shop.

Missy formed a quick plan and timed it perfectly - waiting until Jo caught sight of her, then stood and quickly walked away - ensuring a sense of urgency in her manner. Glancing back, she let her eyes scan the tea shop in a worried fashion. That would do it. Jo would be concerned and she would lure her away.

She made her way to a bench which was positioned for a lovely view across the countryside. She waited, and watched - then her plan began to reform in her mind in an instant.

Her TARDIS - or the one she had used then, was close by. She glanced at the light on her device and smiled. She couldn’t possibly remember the exact dates she had been on earth in all her lives - and her calculations this time, were slightly off. Her past self was still here. The game would change.

She slipped away quickly, deciding to continue her game with Jo later, and ensuring that she was out of sight and not followed.

She traced the location on the tracking device and found herself led toward a nearby quarry. She thought for a moment, trying to recall where she may have concealed her TARDIS back then. Certain that she was in the right location, she began to use her umbrella to scan the larger rocky areas - soon she saw the familiar shimmer that told her that she had found the doors, and she smiled.

She walked across the rocky terrain and up to the door, using her umbrella handle to knock rapidly against the hard surface.

She waited, knowing that her past self would be watching her, wondering who she might be and what her intention was. She waited patiently, and broke into a smile as the doors finally opened.

He appraised her suspiciously, standing in the doorway and remaining silent initially. Something felt familiar - an undercurrent of a connection despite being certain he had never seen her before.

“HELLO! Took you _ages_ to open the door. Were you trying to figure out who I was and HOW I knew your TARDIS was here?” she said with a smile.

“Who are you?” he asked, feeling oddly compelled to return her smile but working to keep his guard up.

Missy smirked, speaking with a dramatic flair, _“I am_ ; the Bringer of Spoilers, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, the Queen of Evil, and the Maker of a Very Amusing Idea...to torment the Doctor of course.”

“Torment the Doctor you say?”

“Oh this will be _simply_ brilliant, now invite me in and I will tell you all. Where ARE your manners today dear?”

He stepped forward, and pulled the doors closed behind him, cautious with offering any access to his TARDIS. “You’re a Time Lord.”

“Well, Time _Lady_ , but yes, that’s true. And i’m in quite the wrong place right now, but when I saw where I was I simply couldn’t resist,” she paused, noticing that he was watching her with quite some intensity. “Would you like a little peek inside my mind? I don’t mind - I wouldn’t trust some strange Time Lady with impeccable dress sense and amazing hair, who waltzed up to _my_ TARDS either. Feel free - I’ll open all the barriers for you - but it’s a limited time…”

She stopped speaking abruptly as he grabbed her wrists, pulling her closer to him and leaning forward so his forehead connected with hers. She gasped at the sudden intrusion into her mind, cursing herself for not realising he would make such an impulsive move. She wasn’t prepared and it hurt.

She struggled on impulse and he shifted, using one hand to hold her wrists still in front of her as his other moved to the back of her head, keeping her in place. She gasped and tried to relax, so she could let go of her impulse to resist his jolt into her mind.

He delved inside her head, coursing through her memories with a vengeance, leaving no path unexplored. As the realisation dawned as to who she was, he inched back, treading more carefully, and retreating until he was only skimming the perimeter of her mind. He finally withdrew, breaking the connection to her mind with considerable more gentleness than he had entered. He released her wrists and placed a kiss on her forehead before dropping his hand from her head.

“That was...uncalled for,” she said, breathlessly. "And quite rude."

“I do apologise my dear, if I had known who you were I would have taken more care,” he said. “Let’s come inside and talk, I do hope I haven’t left you with a headache.”

“You owe me tea...and cake..and biscuits..and…”

He raised his hand, “I think tea and biscuits will be possible...Missy. Why would you call yourself Missy?”

“It’s short for Mistress,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Why does no one guess that?”

“How and when do I become you?” he asked.

“I’m from very far into your future - quite some way down the line, I’m not giving you all the details. Besides, I have an annoying amnesia about the last time.”

He opened the doors and stepped back, gesturing for her to step inside as he held the door for her.

She stepped inside and smiled as she glanced around the console room, before nodding at another door, “tea in the usual room?”

“Yes, in the library,” he said, smiling.

They sat together, drinking tea by an ornate fireplace situated in the expansive oak panelled library. He remained silent at first, observing her as she drunk her tea. He gave her some time to recover from his rampage through her mind, and only spoke once she moved to reach for the teapot.

“Do let me pour,” he said.

Missy nodded and smiled, if she was going to run into her past self, this surely was one of the more agreeable incarnations, and their time together would be civilised and enjoyable.

“You don’t remember your regeneration?” he asked. “Nothing at all?”

“I remember Cybermen, smoke, and burning. Nothing else. I have memories - crystal clear ones, but they are further back. The whole area around it is hazy.”

“That’s unlike us - our control over regeneration is normally far better. We should investigate why that is,” he said.

“Well, if it doesn’t affect me now, then i’m not too worried,” she said dismissively.

“You should adopt more caution Missy - when you are ready, if you let me back in, I can help - perhaps find more fragments that could be pieced together. Amnesia gives you a disadvantage - it could come back to haunt you later. Don’t be so lax with our future,” he said.

“Later,” Missy said, firmly. “First, I would like to discuss a little idea I had with you. You can’t walk on in to UNIT headquarters, but they have no idea who I am. We could use hypnotism, psychic paper, that kind of thing, but wouldn’t it be far more fun, to set it all up. Have them bring me in.”

“Interesting - how do you propose to do that?” he asked.

“We set it up, so the Doctor has to save me from your evil clutches - he will love playing the hero. The Doctor takes me into UNIT, needing to know what’s so important about me. I conduct all sorts of sabotage, steal anything either of us might want!” Missy said with a smile.

They both laughed as they drunk their tea, sharing ideas and forming plans long into the evening.

* * *

The Master smiled at her as she held out her wrists for him. He encircled one wrist and then the other in front of her, securing the cuffs, and checking the tightness was at the ideal level before stepping back, observing her.

“If you have been my prisoner since the Doctor has seen me last, then you need to appear at least dishevelled. You are far too immaculate,” he said as he contemplated her.

“I can be a prisoner with immaculate hair - but you’re right, I would probably have fought you and tried to escape,” she said, and he watched, impressed as she repeatedly yanked and pulled at the handcuffs until her skin began to redden enough that she would leave marks.

“So we let the Doctor save me, I then have access to the building - I can feed all the juicy intel back to you, then we kidnap Jo.”

The Master looked at her in surprise, “kidnap Miss Grant? No my dear, I want her to choose to come with us - imagine that!”

“She won’t leave with you by choice - she will want to help me, and perhaps I can use that to our advantage - but she won’t turn away from the Doctor,” Missy said. “Be fun to try though!”

The plan was executed smoothly - and soon the Master and Missy were in full performance mode - UNIT surrounding them, guns pointed at all angles, the Master declaring her imminent death if they came any closer, and Missy on her knees pleading for her life.

The Doctor was soon alerted and joined the scene. Missy almost broke character when she saw him approach, but continued her act. She begged the Doctor to help her, relating the horror of seeing the Master shrink people to death. It worked like a charm.

The Master exchanged her for TARDIS components, and Missy found the whole thing amusing - as if her past self would have actually left when the Doctor was still on earth. He had spent so much time upgrading his TARDIS systems that it had never been so finely tuned and responsive.

Soon she was in the back of a UNIT jeep, the Doctor following behind in that yellow car he had been so fond of, and Jo sitting beside her.

She turned to Jo and did her best to appear nervous and overwhelmed, “where are we going?”

“It’s ok, you’re safe now,” said Jo, giving her a warm smile.

Missy fought the urge to return her smile - Jo was being kind to her, as predicted, but she found herself feeling a certain degree of fondness as she sat with her. She had always liked her if she were honest with herself, and given how much time she had spent on earth back then, she had grown a familiarity with her. It was a first really - she hadn’t spent any considerable time with humans before, especially the Doctor’s little friends, but Jo was an exception. She almost felt guilty for deceiving her.

Almost.

They had arrived, and Missy made a show of being hesitant as the UNIT soldiers helped her climb down from the jeep. It was perfect - they all thought she was a genuine damsel in distress. She was taken inside a high security building, mentally mapping out exits as she walked along, and was soon sitting down, having tea with the Doctor and Jo. The Brigadier introduced himself and said he would leave her to talk to the Doctor, if he would be assured of a full report afterwards.

Soon they were alone, the UNIT personnel finally going about their business. She looked at the Doctor and smiled demurely, “thank you, these soldiers make me so nervous- I really don’t like guns. Not what I expected to see on my walk in the countryside.”

The Doctor gave her a warm smile and Missy wanted to kiss him.

“I am the Doctor - you’ve already met Jo,” he said.

Missy smiled at Jo before turning her attention back to the Doctor.

“I’m an engineer, temporal physics - I came here for a break - get away from all of my work for a few days. Professor Emstriss  - most people call me Missy.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Missy, now could you tell me how you ended up being abducted by the Master?” the Doctor said, clearly intrigued by her.

“It was _horrible_!” Missy said, working to get the right balance of anxiety and relief coming through. “As much as I wanted a holiday, I brought some of my work with me - I was conducting an experiment when he just appeared in my room - out of thin air! I was afraid that perhaps I was seeing a ghost - the shock gave me that ridiculous notion - and he knew everything about my work! He insisted I detail my experiment and accompany him to his lab. I refused - and he pulled out a strange looking weapon. The sweet old lady who owned the guesthouse where I was staying, knocked on the door to bring me my afternoon tea..”she paused, raising a hand to her face and shaking her head in dismay. “It was horrible - he fired it at her..and she...please don’t think my sanity is questionable because I know what I saw….he _shrunk_ her!”

“That is one of the Master’s techniques, it must have been a shock to see that Missy. Did he say what he wanted you for?” the Doctor asked.

“My equipment - he pulled it apart - he took components but said my knowledge was useful - far beyond the most advanced of earth’s finest minds, and he had use for me. I refused to help him - he murdered that innocent woman!”

Missy made a show of sitting with her head in her hands, presenting a picture of sadness - she smiled into her hands as she felt Jo reach out and place a hand on her shoulder.

“Are you okay? You must be exhausted, i’ll get you some sweet tea and see if I can find anything to eat,” Jo said, squeezing her hand reassuringly.

Missy looked up at her, “you’re very kind Jo.”

And then she was alone with her Doctor - or at least a face she had not seen him wear for a very long time. It was never a big deal - she knew some of his little human friends struggled with the reality of regeneration, but she could always see him - this version was so much younger. Oh how she enjoyed the time she spent on earth - she remained there for him, there really was no other reason to focus her plans and idle days there. She could have been off doing far more exciting things, but the Doctor was stuck there, and so she stayed too.

She could always see him - see right through a new face, a new body - straight to the person underneath. She could always see her Doctor. For him, it was not so easy. She wondered if it were because he spent so much time on earth - perhaps the lack of telepathic connections had blunted his senses. She hardly surrounded herself with her own kind either, but she did work at keeping her senses finely tuned.

Sitting in front of him, she looked into his eyes and gave a slight smile, giving him a moment, wondering if he would see her. He was so easy to hide from - every disguise she wore was a surprise when she had revealed herself to him over the many lifetimes they had danced their own unique dance.

He paused, a small flash of familiarity there, and it excited her that he might know - she found herself wishing he would realise who she was and play her. 

In the meantime however, she held all the cards, and this was going to be a very amusing game. 


End file.
